Climate Politics

Global Plastic Talks Fail as ‘Hardline Positions’ Block Deal

Attempts to reach a global accord on plastic pollution ended without consensus

A volunteer removes the labels from plastic bottles for processing at a recycling center in Rayong, Thailand, on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. Global plastic waste has more than doubled over the past two decades to 353 million metric tons annually, a number that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development expects to almost triple by 2060.Photographer: Andre Malerba/Bloomberg

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By Olivia Rudgard and John Ainger

August 15, 2025 at 8:40 AM UTC

Updated on

August 15, 2025 at 10:55 AM UTC

Efforts to agree on a treaty to curb the proliferation of plastics stalled on Friday, leaving nearly three years of negotiations in limbo.

Delegates walked away from the United Nations meeting in Geneva without an agreement, after convening earlier in the month in order to break a deadlock over how to address the threat that plastic pollution poses to human health, wildlife and ecosystems.